


To Be Robin

by SuperSilverSpy



Series: Dick "Whumptober" Grayson [8]
Category: Batman - All Media Types, DCU, DCU (Comics)
Genre: Angst, Bruce Wayne is Bad at Relationships, Bruce Wayne is a Bad Parent, Bruce Wayne’s A+ Parenting, Damian Wayne Needs a Hug, Damian Wayne is Robin, Damian Wayne-centric, Dick Grayson Has Issues, Dick Grayson Needs a Hug, Dick Grayson Raised Damian Wayne, Dick Grayson is Damian Wayne’s Parent, Dick Grayson is the Robin, Dick Grayson was Batman, Dick Grayson-centric, Dicktober, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, I tried for fluff again, Mentioned Bruce Wayne, Prompt Fill, SilverGrayson, SuperSilverSpy, Whump, Whumptober, think I got a little bit closer
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-31
Updated: 2020-10-31
Packaged: 2021-03-08 17:53:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,508
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27310753
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SuperSilverSpy/pseuds/SuperSilverSpy
Summary: Taking a deep breath, speaking clearly, “Why Robin?”Grayson’s brow furrows, “what do you mean?”“It does not seem like a term father would have chosen.”The man looks away, then down. Speaking quietly to the ground, he answers, “That’s because he didn’t.”OR D&d batbroship, Robin meaning reveal and all that
Relationships: Dick Grayson & Damian Wayne, Dick Grayson & batbros, Dick Grayson and Batfam
Series: Dick "Whumptober" Grayson [8]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1939666
Comments: 14
Kudos: 343





	To Be Robin

**Author's Note:**

  * For [willtreaty](https://archiveofourown.org/users/willtreaty/gifts).



> Prompt:
> 
> “I was thinking maybe you could do something about the flying graysons? Maybe something like damian is the only one who knows what Robin really means because dick told him, but the others don't know.“

“You got over your stupid f***ing relationship problems with Bruce, for the replacement, for the demon spawn, but not for  _ me.  _ So why should  _ I _ ?”

Todd yells at him, at the man who only wants reconciliation with all his brothers. Hood’s words are a running theme throughout many of their arguments, and Damian has heard them many times before.

“You took everything from me and gave it to that little— He’s an assassin! You have no idea what it feels like.” 

That isn’t true, Drake doesn’t know what he’s saying, doesn’t know that he’s wrong. All because Richard refuses to tell him.

Replaced, they say, that is all he hears about, all that is thought about. It hurts to hear, the lows they go to. The two would never even stop to think that Father was in the wrong, and why should they? Grayson let it happen, kept the truth from them all these years and even now, when it’s coming to bite him in the a**, he knows the man won’t say a word.

* * *

_ “Richard? May I ask you something?” _

_ “Sure Dami, what’s up?” his favorite brother asks, sliding over. _

_ Taking a deep breath, speaking clearly, “Why Robin?” _

_ Grayson’s brow furrows, “what do you mean?” _

_ “It does not seem like a term father would have chosen.” _

_ The man looks away, then down. Speaking quietly to the ground, he answers, “That’s because he didn’t.” _

_ Damian says nothing, shocked at the implications. Richard continues on and confirms them. The explanation is far from satisfying. _

_ “You know how my birthday is on the 21st of March? Springtime, my mother used to call me her little Robin.” He smiles as he says it, lost in a memory, happy and untainted. _

* * *

He’d felt immediately unworthy of the name, knowing how precious it was to the man who’d practically raised him, who gave him what no one ever had, kindness he’s sure he doesn’t deserve. Grayson of course, just smiled and reassured him, serious and confident in a way only he could be while saying such things to Damian.  _ I’m proud to have you carry the name, Lil D. I wouldn’t have it any other way.  _ He’s still not sure he believed him.

Years later, the realization had come slowly, more facts came to light. Richard had been cast out, stripped of what rightfully belonged to him, and seen it given to someone else without his knowledge. It was a terrible thing to do, and Damian was furious once he’d learned the truth. Most of them only knew that half the story because Grayson hadn’t told anyone what Robin had meant to him. As far as the others were aware , Father was just taking and giving something that was his. 

It made Damian sick, once he knew. Father had always known, and let the conflict between Robins continue on anyway. There was no doubt in his mind that Batman had been aware of the true meaning behind his Robin, and that made it all the worse. 

Father came back from being lost in time, and the others slowly drifted back as well, glad for his safe return. It was good for everyone but Damian, who’s position in the family was challenged soon after.

Then when Richard’s in-family relationships began to fail, no one was there to show the second Batman—  _ his  _ Batman— any understanding, Damian set out to fix this problem, consequences be d***ed.

* * *

_ “Why do you refuse to inform them of what Father really did, what the name they never understood means to you?” he asked one day, already forming a plan and hoping Grayson will support it. _

_ “B did exactly what they know he did, and it doesn’t matter.” Richard’s jaw clenches. “Jason’s hatred for him is bad enough as it is, and Tim’s loyalty too unwavering. I won’t be the one to tear this family apart Dami, not with my secrets, and neither should you.”  _

_ He wonders just how many such secrets the man has hidden to ‘keep them all together’.  _

_ “But surely it could help them understand, that your previous actions and supposed wrongdoings—” _

_ “That what? That the mistakes I made then weren’t my fault? I’m not as great as you think I am Little D, I’ve hurt them, failed them as a brother. That’s on  _ **_me_ ** _.” _

_ Damian despises the pain in his brother’s eyes, the ready acceptance of blame. Grayson is strong, perhaps the strongest, but when it comes to his family...his brokenness is astounding. _

_ “Father had a part to play as well. They do not deserve your guilt for those missteps. Such injustice can be resolved, if we only tell—” _

_ “That’s enough.” The tone is harsh as it rarely ever is.“I trusted you with this and I still do. Now I’m trusting you to keep it between us.” _

* * *

Damian knew the elder would not be changing his mind then and he knows it now. There is only one way to fix this he decides, feeling the unpleasant tightness coiling in his chest. That trust will be broken, and he can only hope that Richard will understand. He has to do what he thinks is best, just as the man has done countless times before.

“Bruce was right,” Drake says, referring to the argument that had taken place not moments before, in which both men left them in the cave, storming out. “What’s going on with Dick?”

“The h*** do I care, Goldie’s off and done it again, that fight was almost as bad as it was back when you weren’t around, Replacement.” The ever insufferable Todd responds, and much as he occasionally feels grudging respect for the antihero, right now they are both imbeciles.

“Hey, don’t act like I don’t know how it feels. At least for you it was me who had it, a literal assassin took my place!”

Damian stiffens, this has been going on for a while now. Father has returned and wants Drake back as Robin. Grayson disagrees, Todd gets upset about the nature of their arguments, and Drake is still bitter. Neither of them ever liked Damian very much, and tensions are running high. He knows they’d gladly have him gone, and he’d probably leave too, if it weren’t for the fact that he’d be leaving Richard all alone, undefended. It’s now or never, and they need to know.

He hesitates, dismissing the guilt, and takes the risk, “Silence, both of you. Jumping to conclusions without possessing all the information is a foolish thing.”

“What ‘information’, Demon Spawn?” Todd demands to know.

“Grayson does not deserve your ire, and Father was wrong.” A scoff sounded somewhere, but he wasn’t looking at them. “Robin is not his to take, it never was. Richard told me, months ago, his mother called him by the name because he was born on the first day of Spring. Then father took the mantle without his knowledge and gave it to Todd. Don’t you see? Only Grayson has the right to give or take Robin. I did not ask him to love me like he does, and I know you’d both rather have me leave. That you don’t think I deserve to stay, and I agree. But Richard doesn’t, and it’s really only up to him.”

Stunned silence.

A voice, coming from the stairs leading down from the manor, “Damian—”

“Is it true?” a second one interrupts.

“It— it doesn’t matter,” He says, casting a stern look at Damian, “this doesn’t change anything. I made mistakes with you guys, and I’ll always be sorry for them.”

“F***, Goldie, it does matter, it matters to us, now answer the d*** question.”

Grayson’s voice is quiet, even in the echoes of the cave, “Yeah, yeah it’s true.”

He sounds so  _ exhausted,  _ that Damian almost regrets telling them. Almost, but it needed to be said. 

“Why hadn’t you told us then? Why did we have to hear it from  _ him?” _

Damian decides to take this one, pointedly ignoring the insult.

“Tt, Richard wished for no one to know, for the sake of ‘keeping the family together’ or some such nonsense.”

“You should have told us—”

“That f***ing b*****—”

“And all along we’ve been mad at y—”

“I’m gonna kill him—”

“No! Stop. This is exactly why I didn’t want you to know. Keep the peace with B, please? For me? That’s all I want.”

The effect is almost immediate, and they calm.

“We’re sorry Dick, Damian was correct for once. What Bruce did… that wasn’t right.”

Drake has at last come to his senses.

“I finally get why you were so mad at him Big Bird, and you don’t give yourself enough credit for the whole ‘big brother-ing’ thing, could’ve been worse.”

That’s as good as they’ll get from Todd.

“Next time though, you should tell us. I don’t care if you think it’ll hurt our relationship with B, we deserve to know. You shouldn’t take the blame for things that aren’t entirely your fault.”

If only, but Damian will be there to help.

“No promises.”

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry it’s not quite as long as I wanted it to be  
> I had started filling another prompt  
> But the inspiration just wasn’t there  
> I had lots for this one though,  
> Always have  
> You’ll notice the title is very similar to my To Be The Robin fic (which will be updated next)  
> And my To Be Bat fic  
> They are not fic-wise canonically related in any way  
> But they do deal with similar themes  
> Dick is The Robin, Damian is A Robin  
> Dick was The Bat, Jason is A Bat  
> Two deal with being Robin  
> And I’ll probably write another that deals with being The Bat  
> Starring Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson of course  
> Anyway,  
> Please comment  
> Tell me what you thought, I love it when you do  
> Know that my usual posting schedule is returning to once every other week  
> The other fics in this series will most definitely get sequels where they were asked for  
> Whumptober is over and I apologize to those who’s prompts I didn’t get around to  
> Many thanks to the amazing teeelsie who has decided to continue as my beta,
> 
> Stay whelmed!  
> -Silver


End file.
